Dwell In God's Rest
How can you be confident of your right standing with God when you believe you are not worthy or in good standing with Him?
“But God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and unmerited favor in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:4-7.
WOW!. This means that we are in a position of rest in Jesus’ finished work. We are seated in Christ to rest, to trust in Him, and to receive everything He accomplished ON OUR behalf.
We Can Dwell In God's Rest
Because of what Christ did on our behalf we are seated in His rest to trust in Him and to receive every blessing He has promised us.
All of our good works and efforts to achieve success do not come close to what God will do for us and through us when we believe we are blessed, righteous, and favored by our Heavenly Father.
The struggle to accomplish is over and we can begin to thank Him for each promise we need in our lives.
God wants you to grasp the extensiveness of our position in Him because of His favor in our lives.
It is so much easier to look at our accomplishments and human efforts for our success than it is to believe God wants even more for us – exceedingly abundantly above what we may ask or think.
The devil’s strategy is to make sure you look at yourself and not God. He wants you to see your shortcomings and incapabilities. He is a master at pointing out your flaws, weaknesses, and mistakes. As long as he can keep you focused on that, you will not be concentrating on what God has promised you.Guilt and condemnation are his greatest weapons against us.
From Sin Conscious To Christ Conscious
Apostle Paul found himself sinking into the same realm and he cried out, “O wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me…?” Romans 7:24. But in the next verse he sees God’s solution and says, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” He realized that God had already saved him from that demise.
We need to stop being self-conscious and begin to be Christ-conscious. Then our prayers will turn to ones of thanksgiving.
Christ dwells in us and He is accepted by God the Father. Therefore, we are also accepted into the family of God.
The old covenant of law is all about you whereas the new covenant is all about Jesus.
Let us become as little children and believe that our parents love us and only want good things for us instead of wondering if we will ever be good enough to receive their love.
"Take My Yoke Upon You..."
Scripture consistently tells us what God thinks of us and He demonstrated His love when He sent His Son to die for our sins. We need to stop looking at ourselves and look at what God has done for us.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” Matthew 11:28-30.
If you have ever wondered if teaching about God’s grace is doctrinally sound, take the litmus test which is:
Are the messages you are hearing exalting Christ and His finished work in you
OR….
Are the messages based on what you must do to earn His favor?
When you become aware of who you are because of Christ, it leads to a life of rest and success. God’s yoke is easy, and His burden is light. There is no condemnation. This is no striving to better yourself to earn God’s favor.
In this passage in Matthew, Jesus was speaking to people who were tired and worn out by the requirements of the law. They felt they would never measure up to what was expected of them based on the law of Moses.
The yoke of the law is hard and heavy. The yoke of grace is easy and light because it involves none of you and all of Jesus. He bore the burden of sin for us. Our part is to believe in Jesus Christ and when we believe, we are made righteous and blessed.
You Can Dwell In God's Rest
“He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shll take refuge” Psalm 91:4.
This is the secret place where God wants us to live each day – under his care where we can rest in the assurance of His love and protection.
All around us there is fear – social media, the news, our neighbors and even friends. We can allow that fear to rob us of God-given joy and protection and live in a state of anxiety. Or we can feed our thoughts with God’s promises and know His promises are for us as much as they were when Jesus walked the earth.
Psalm 91 is our prayer of protection. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” Psalm 91:1. Read that again. This is where we can dwell. The Hebrew word for ‘dwell’ is yashab which means to sit down, to remain, and to settle.
Take note that God WANTS you to enjoy His protection – His rest – His peace.